Residents sue Lake County over water system
A group of 672 Hawthorn Woods residents filed a federal class action lawsuit Thursday against Lake County, saying it should pay the entire cost to replace their "failed" water system.
Residents in the Glennshire subdivision say the county should bear the full $6 million cost to upgrade the troubled system it didn't maintain.
"Lake County's mismanagement led to our water system's collapse," said Christopher Donovan, president of Citizens for Equitable Water Solutions, a Glennshire homeowners group formed to address the water issue.
County officials would not comment on the federal lawsuit Thursday because they had not seen the court filing.
Residents of 224 homes served by the county-owned and -operated Glennshire water system learned in 2006 their 20 shallow wells would have to be replaced under an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency order.
Since then, Lake County has agreed to pay $1 million toward installation of a new distribution system for the Glennshire neighborhood, but the total cost is closer to $6 million. The county would own the new system and plans to bill residents for the remainder.
Residents believe their case is supported by the Illinois attorney general's 2006 lawsuit on behalf of the IEPA against Lake County for failure to provide clean drinking water to Glennshire homeowners. The state has demanded the county install the new water distribution system chosen by residents.
But county officials have argued that under the 1975 agreement with Hawthorn Woods -- when the county took over operation of the Glennshire water system -- residents are liable to pay for all future upgrades.
"The system is more than 50 years old and frankly was never constructed to public waterway standards," said Jim Bakk, Lake County's special assistant state's attorney. "They (the village and county) said because it wasn't a code-compliant system, if it needs to be upgraded it has to be from local revenues."
Donovan said the county breached the contract, which clearly states it must maintain the system to IEPA standards. He said the county has ignored the water quality problems until recently.
Bakk said the county tried to get residents' consensus on how to upgrade the Glennshire system in 1980.
"At that time, there was absolutely no support from any of the residents or from the village to do anything," he said.
Glennshire residents would be on the hook for more than $20,000 each paid up front, or $55,000 including interest per homeowner over 30 years. Residents now pay roughly $27 in monthly fees.
"Our new water bills are probably going to be around $180 a month with the new system," Donovan said. "Every year, they spend millions of dollars replacing water mains for residents all across the county system, and they won't do it for us, which is unequal treatment."
Construction of the new Glennshire system is expected to start this year, provided Hawthorn Woods approves the necessary permits.
Earlier this week, the attorney general filed a motion to add Hawthorn Woods as a defendant in its lawsuit against Lake County.
The county claims the village has been delaying permits to build the new system. A Lake County judge will decide June 19 whether to add the village to the suit.